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Mandi Thomas

Week 6!? Is this a joke?! No people, this is real life. This is precisely why I am in love with the quarter system. This quarter has literally flown by. This past week was busy with the usual school and work combination, but with midterm insanity thrown in, let's see if I can share some of my week highlights.

First, I got to go to Target this week, which doesn't sound like a highlight to you, but it is to a poor college student. Let me just say, Target is perfect for everything college. If you are a prospective, soon to be Redhawk student, just go to Target when you are getting ready to move in. If you are a current student, you love Target too let's be real. So I mean, I'm poor so the most exciting of my purchases was Scrabble Cheez-its. I know I sound like the biggest nerd, but I'm going to just end with saying that you can now play Scrabble with food. Delicious and educational. Also this week I held a club meeting where we made headway on a current project that we are working on. We are planning on starting a letter writing campaign to support legislation to raise awareness about eating disorders. It's called the Freed Act, look it up if you're interested! I'll keep you posted on how our campaign goes and if you'd like to get involved, please please please email me! We will need all the help we can get! Another exciting thing of my week was the sunshine. On Wednesday I had coffee with a friend and because it was perfectly sunny and warm outside, we soaked in the sun for about 2 and a half hours outside on the new Library lawn. It was quite delightful!

Unfortunately that was last week and this week we are experiencing weather that I've never experienced in my years at Seattle U and that is a rain and wind combination. Wind plus rain equals no point in a hood or umbrella because it'll get into your face anyway. I suppose this means it'll be a perfect day to curl up with some hot chocolate and homework and spend some quality times with my roommates. This week I plan on celebrating Halloween by way of carving pumpkins, baking pumpkin cookies, eating pumpkin pie, drinking pumpkin spice lattes, listening to the Monster Mash, dressing up, and eating way too much candy. Until next week friends, stay dry, eat or drink something pumpkiny, and if you're old enough, get out there and VOTE!

When I think of October the first thing that comes to my mind are costumes and everything pumpkin. People have told me that I sometimes, maybe, sort of, tend to get overly enthusiastic about holidays and so keeping with my excitement about Halloween, I got to go to my first ever Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch this week in Auburn, Washington. For those of you who don't know where Auburn is...I believe it's somewhere South and maybe East, but don't mark my words on that one. Anyway, Mosby Farms is the name of the place that we decided would be fun to go to. It was everything I hoped it would be and so much more! The corn maze was awesome! We got a map with six locations on it that we had to try to find. My boyfriend, Eric, found 4 of them USING THE MAP, while I found 2 without using the map...I think that means I have a gift of getting lost and luckily stumbling upon a post with a number on it. We found all six in probably about a half hour and got scared once on accident. Apparently a family thought it would be fun to put on frightening masks and scare innocent college students while in the maze. I did not sign up for a Haunted Corn Maze for a reason people! I wasn't that scared though, don't worry. We made it out alive and it was pumpkin picking time! Normally I go to the local grocery store and pick one out of the tub so to see pumpkins just hanging out on the ground waiting for me to choose, was super exciting! Unfortunately Mosby let his pumpkins get slightly rotten so the stench was lovely and some of their guts were protruding into the paths, but we still managed to find the perfect pumkins. 120 pounds and 7 pumpkins later, we were ready to load up the car and drive back to Seattle with smiles on our faces and caramel apple pops in our pockets. It was a gorgeous day for pumpkins and corn, which should teach you that Seattle really doesn't get as much rain as everyone thinks!

In other news, I have decided that you can't really go wrong with a good Tinker Bell costume so I am currently on the hunt for the perfect green dress. If only I had my sewing machine in Seattle, I could just make a simple dress from scratch... Oh well, looks like thrift stores will be seeing me a lot this weekend! Until next time readers...do yourself a favor and go get a Pumpkin Spice Latte today, it'll get you in the perfect October spirit!

Phew! I'm here! In the blogosphere! It was a long journey, but I made it. It was also a long journey back to Seattle from a summer of full on traveling. For the first 3/4 of summer, I was lucky enough to get to spend my summer on the Equator, that's right, I spent 8 1/2 weeks in Ecuador! It is the most breathtaking country that I've ever been to. I am absolutely and whole heartedly in love with the country of Ecuador and the continent of South America. I lived in a small village called Cotacachi, spoke Spanish the entire summer, worked at an indigenous medical clinic in the forest, taught English, and became inseparable with my host family. Not to mention that I visited the famous red line that cuts our globe in half (the equator or mitad del mundo), hiked through the Amazon Rainforest, whale watched off the coast of Ecuador, and dreamed of someday coming back to visit the infamous Galapagos Islands. I have never felt more convicted in my decision to go to Ecuador and have never learned more in 8 weeks in my life. I am now sure more than ever that Social Work is the major that I'm meant to be in, which let me just tell you as the girl who could never settle on one major, that is a darn good feeling.

Upon returning home I hopped right back on a plane to Lake Tahoe and saw my entire family at my mom's wedding. After that 3 day hiatus you would think I would fly home to Southern California and soak up some sun right? Wrong, I hopped on a plane again after being back in Seattle for 4 days and spent a week in New York City, the big apple! I checked out Columbia University's Masters in Social Work program, went to the David Letterman show, saw Lion King on Broadway, ate pizza, bagels, and cupcakes (duh), and visited the UN, MOMA, MET, and so much more.

This summer was nothing other than a whirlwind and now since I've been in school for 3 weeks already, it all feels like a dream. I cannot believe how lucky I have been to travel to unbelievable places. It has been wonderful to get settled after a summer of travel though, living in my first house off-campus in the Central District with 3 other girls with my very own room! Not to mention my classes have been incredible and I am not making that up. This quarter I'm fully immersed in my major of Social Work and am in love with everything that I'm learning. Oh and one more thing, I'm a tad obsessed with the new library and it has become my second home. I have a great feeling about junior year, it's going to be a quite fantastical year! Stay tuned for more adventures! GO REDHAWKSSSS!